Majority Leader Hoyer Statement on FISA

For Immediate Release:

May 22, 2008

Contact:Stacey Farnen Bernards(202) 225 - 3130

WASHINGTON, DC – House Majority Leader Steny H. Hoyer (MD) released the following statement today concerning the on-going negotiations on FISA in response to comments made by Congressional Republicans on this issue today:

“Our intelligence community has the tools it needs to keep America safe, and we are absolutely committed to ensuring that this remains the case. The Director of National Intelligence has not informed us of any degradation in intelligence collection, and we continue to call on him to inform Congress if this changes.

“It is unfortunate that while Congress and the Administration are making progress on this important legislation, that some on the other side decided to engage in rhetoric that is not helpful to our ongoing negotiations.

“In fact, today I had a conversation with a high-level White House official who agreed that we are continuing to make progress, and that both sides are negotiating in good faith to move this process forward.

“I just received the most recent proposal from Senator Bond yesterday evening, which was the first time that Republicans sent us a response to the full bill. We are reviewing it carefully and look forward to resolving remaining differences in the near future.

“Despite today’s events, we look forward to continued discussions with Senator Bond and other stakeholders as we work toward a final agreement.”